This time of year, production cranks into action and our mills get busy producing stock for the next autumn winter season. We often visit to see the production, check everything is going well and looking just as good as we planned. This time, we took photos of some things we spotted that you might not normally see.

Above – a spectacular collection of yarn cones, we wanted to take them home!

Even the front door mat gives a colourful clue to what you’ll find inside.

This crazy machine is used to steam gloves and mitts into shape by slowly rotating them through a wall of steam. Someone stands by pushing them onto the silvery hands, then takes them off at the other end when they emerge.

“Fantastic boxes of DUREX Coloured Casein Knitting Pins, Made in England are 28cm long and contain 12 pairs of brightly coloured gauge 9, 10″ needles, still with their DUREX labels on. DUREX printed on the shaft too…The reg. design no 445724 dates to 1904. Casein is an early plastic made from milk protein”